Harrow school threatens to drop A-levels

One of the world's most famous independent schools has warned it would scrap A-levels in favour of a rival system if ministers fail to reform the exam.

Barnaby Lenon, the head of Harrow school, in north west London, said some A-level subjects had been dumbed down, while coursework made cheating easier in others.

He said the school would switch to the new Pre-U qualification being developed by the Cambridge exam board if A-levels are weakened further.

Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), part of the university's Cambridge Assessment group, is working with independent schools, in the UK and abroad, and universities to draft syllabuses for at least 12 subjects, including maths, economics, life sciences and languages.

The Cambridge group wants the post-16 qualification to help students "benefit from a higher education experience which calls for a more independent and self-directed style of learning". The London School of Economics has recently indicated it would recognise the Pre-U. Writing in the school's magazine, the Harrow Record, Mr Lenon said: "If the A-level system is weakened rather than strengthened in the next few years we will move to the Cambridge board Pre-University exams, which start in 2008, as an alternative to A-levels.

"They will combine the flexibility of A-level with the promise of harder questions and reliable examining."

Ministers have promised to reform A-levels with more difficult questions to stretch the brightest pupils, and a reduction in coursework where possible.

However, a growing numbers of top schools are searching for alternatives to the traditional GCSE and A-level qualifications.

Critics of the system believe GCSEs are too easy while so many sixth-formers get straight As at A-level that top universities struggle to identify the best students.

Mr Lenon rejected the route, favoured by some schools, of opting for the broader six-subject International Baccalaureate (IB) course.

A-levels have served pupils well in the past and offer the chance to combine certain subjects - such as history, geography, economics and music - which the IB would not allow, he said.

However, AS and A-level courses have three main weaknesses: too many pupils get top grades, examiners make too many mistakes when marking scripts, and coursework is vulnerable to cheats.

A-levels have not been dumbed down across the board - history questions, for example, changed little in 30 years, he said.

Mr Lenon said: "The main reason for the improved A-level grades is not that questions have got easier, but that pupils are allowed to sit parts of the A-level [modules] at different stages of the course and they are allowed to re-sit modules in order to improve grades."

In some subjects, however, the questions are less challenging than in the past as exam boards attempt to make courses like maths and French more popular, he said.